Nothing's Ever Easy
by lenkid
Summary: A mistake on a mission throws Sydney and Vaughn in directions they never thought possible. (S/V)
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer- They don't belong to me, they belong to J.J. and co.

A/N- This is my first Alias fic. I did a lot of Dark Angel ones, but now that the show's been cancelled, I had to move on. Hopefully this one will come out ok though.

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Her stomach felt like it was on fire. Nothing could compare to the pain that she was feeling right now. But it felt good. Sydney kept pushing herself. _Twenty more should do it. _The image of the lithe woman in her room was memorizing to anyone who happened to look in on her, especially if they had been watching her from the beginning of her work-out. She didn't have to push herself so hard, but she knew that it would only make her better, and the only way to survive was to continually be better. To be the best. She knew that, and that's why the pain felt so good.

After her last sit-up, Sydney laid out flat on the floor and stretched out her over-worked muscles. Rolling to her side, she grabbed the towel that she had half-hazardly thrown on the couch, and wiped her face with it, taking away the salt from her face. Combined with her sweat, were tears. Lately she had been mulling over her life. She has always thought that if she ever wanted to quit doing the whole spy thing, it'd be as easy as that. She'd just quit. But, after so many years, and after realizing just how deep in the folds of the agency she was, the reality hit her that she could never leave. Never. The only bright light in her life was Vaughn. _Vaughn. What would I do without him? _ Smiling a bit, Sydney got up, throwing the towel over her shoulder, and headed towards the bathroom. "Hey Francie! I'm going to take a shower, ok?"

Francie stuck her head out of the kitchen where she was cooking dinner. "Sure, and when you're done, we'll eat."

Sydney smiled at her friend. "Of course. I can't wait."

Francie just looked back at Sydney. 

Slightly taken back by Francie's stoic look, Sydney pushed away any ill thoughts and turned back towards the bathroom. "I'll be done in about half an hour."

"Sounds good. This should be done by then."

Sydney walked into the bathroom and closed the door. She peeled off her sports bra and slipped out of her sweatpants while she waited for the water to warm up. As she stepped into the steam-filled cubicle and felt the water rain down on her body, she could almost feel the tension washing away with her sweat. She rarely really thought about what she did for a living because she never wanted to be reminded of the consequences of anyone knowing about what she really did at her job. That was why she was so nervous around Will, and especially Vaughn. If anything happened to either one of them, she didn't even know what she would do. Even Francie who didn't know a thing was acting rather strange lately. 

After awhile, Sydney stepped out of the shower, and wrapped herself in a towel. She walked to her room, and picked out some clothes that she would be comfortable in, glancing at her TV that looked to have been moved a bit. _Francie must have done some cleaning around here. _Sydney got changed, and tied her hair back in a ponytail to get it out of her face. Walking out into the kitchen, she could smell Francie's latest creation, and her mouth started to salivate. _Wow I'm hungry. I think no matter how it tastes, I'm going to eat it. _"Hey, thanks for waiting for me." Sydney smiled at her friend as she sat down at the table. 

In between bites, Francie pointed to where Sydney was sitting. "At least I made a plate for you."

Sydney grabbed a napkin that she put over her lap as she sat down. "Thanks. Looks great Francie." Sydney picked up her fork and right away dug in. "So any phone calls while I was in the shower?"

Francie looked down at her plate as she stabbed another bite of meat. "Nothing important."

Sydney's stomach dropped, and suddenly she wasn't very hungry anymore. Keeping up her ever solid poker face, she looked at Francie. "What do you mean?"

Francie shrugged her shoulders. "Just some guy."

Sydney narrowed her eyebrows in confusion because she felt like Francie was hiding something from her. Vaughn was supposed to call her that night, and she still hadn't heard from him. But if it was him, why would Francie not tell her? Sydney shook her head, and looked away towards the front door, missing Francie's all-too focused stare on her.

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"Hey, I think I'm going to go out for a little drive tonight Francie."

Francie handed Sydney another plate to dry. "Any particular reason?"

Taking the plate from Francie, Sydney shrugged. "No, I just need to get out for awhile."

Without any emotion in her voice, Francie spoke. "Can I come?"

Sydney hesitated so slightly that not many people would ever have noticed her pause. "Uh, Francie, I'm not really going anywhere exciting..."

"Oh. I just thought that it would give us some time to talk."

Sighing, Sydney turned to her friend. "You think we could do is some other time? I really just want to get some air by myself if that's ok." 

Never looking up, Francie replied. "Sure. Sounds good. I just don't want you to be going around with Michael all the time and forgetting about me."

Sydney quickly looked to Francie. "Oh Francie, I'd never do that, you know that."

Francie just looked at Sydney. "Yeah."

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Sydney walked the hallway in the warehouse in silence. The only sound came from the clicking of her heels on the cement floor. They didn't need to meet down here anymore, but both had agreed that it was a kind of haven for them, and a lot of good memories had been created here. As she rounded the bend, she could see Vaughn sitting on a crate in their usual meeting place. The sound of her footsteps caused him to look up, and Sydney watched a small smile creep across his face. Suddenly she was acutely aware that not only was she grinning, but also blushing. She walked into the cage that was their room, and moved in front of Vaughn. "Hey you."

Vaughn looked at her with his perpetually sad looking face. "Hey yourself. I was beginning to think that maybe you stood me up."

Sydney smiled and moved closer so that she could wrap her arms around his body, acutely aware of his arms around her, and his hands resting on her butt. Leaning into him, she whispered. "Sorry, I was in the shower when you called, you're lucky I came at all."

Vaughn swallowed audibly and laughed a bit. "That I am."

Sydney turned serious and pulled away, focusing totally on business. "So why the call? I'm assuming it wasn't a social one this time."

Throwing her a lopsided smile, Vaughn replied. "I wish it was, but sadly it isn't." Vaughn got up and started pacing the room, very aware of Sydney's locked gaze on him. Blocking that out of his mind, he continued. "We just got a call that a new Rambaldi artifact has been discovered in Taipei."

"And you want me to extract it?"

"Not totally. We actually have the artifact here, but our operatives screwed up and left the key to opening the artifact back in Taipei. We think that Sloane has gotten word about it, and we want to get to it before he does."

"But why would he need it. He doesn't even have the artifact."

Vaughn stopped in front of Sydney and looked at her with his concerned eyes. "True, but we think that since Sloane is suddenly so adamant about getting it, the key actually holds more than just the answer to our artifact. We think that it's a big step in bringing forth the Prophecy."

Sydney searched Vaughn's eyes for something else than what he was telling her, but at this point could find nothing. She quickly stood up and brushed some imaginary lint off of her skirt. "Ok. I'll see you when I get back." Sydney went to walk past Vaughn, but he grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

"Wait."

Sydney looked up into Vaughn's eyes.

Looking down at her, Vaughn wanted to tell her not to go, but he couldn't. "Be careful." He leaned down and pressed his mouth firmly to hers. The heat generated between the two could easily power a small country for a month.

Pulling away, Sydney looked up and smiled at him, moving away as soon as he let go of her arm. "I always am."

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Her stomach felt like it was on fire. Nothing could compare to the pain that she was feeling right now. And it didn't feel good. As Sydney laid on the floor, she could begin to feel a warmth touch her skin. Little did she realize before she passed out that it was the warmth of her own blood.

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Let me know how it went! If you want me to continue, or stop, or whatever. Comments are always appreciated. :)


	2. Chapter Two

A/N- Thank you so much for all of your reviews. They are much appreciated. And because they were so wonderful, I worked to get out this second chapter. It's a little short, but I really liked the ending. 

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CHAPTER TWO

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"Can't sleep again buddy?"

Vaughn looked up from his computer screen to see Weiss leaning against his doorframe. He shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "I never can when she's gone."

"Bet it doesn't help now that you two are, shall we say, closer?"

Vaughn grinned with one corner of his mouth, glancing down at his desk to avoid Weiss' own grin. "Yeah, you could say that."

"I think someone's feeling cold right about now."

Vaughn's gaze shot up at his friend. "Weiss!"

Weiss threw up his hands in a defeated gesture. "Hey man, I'm just calling what I see. She'll be back soon, and you two can resume whatever you were doing before she left. This guy however, is going to go home for some quality time with his tv set."

Vaughn shook his head and let out a laugh. "Alright. See ya tomorrow."

"Um, what time does Sydney come in? Because if it's before we're supposed to be at work, somehow I highly doubt I'll see you."

Vaughn threw the pencil he was holding at Weiss' retreating laughing form. As Weiss left, Vaughn returned to his computer screen. On it, were the diagrams of several Rambaldi artifacts, including the most recent one that the CIA had in their possession. He ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to decipher the drawings. If only they had found the artifacts in the SD cells. Something was off with that. They had always gotten information that the artifacts were hidden deep within the cells. He had been at SD-6 himself when one had been attempted to be removed. Since the CIA had found none of the artifacts when they raided the SD cells, it was almost as if Sloane had known that there would be a raid and had somehow managed to remove all of the artifacts without anyone knowing that he was doing that. Vaughn shook his head and rubbed his eyes. _That's crazy. There's no way Sloane could have known what was coming. These late nights always get me thinking way too much about things. These thoughts will never get me anywhere. _Vaughn looked at the little clock on his computer and saw the cold digits of 3:35am click into view.

Getting up and stretching, Vaughn decided to head downstairs to grab a cup of coffee. He still had a few hours until Sydney was supposed to check in, so he figured that maybe he could get some reading in. He nodded at the few other insomniacs that were roaming the halls of the CIA at this early hour, and made his way towards the small cafeteria. Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he dug through his pockets to pay the young girl who was sitting at the counter reading a book, and walked over to a table in a far corner. On his way over, he picked up a paper that someone had left hours ago on another table to read. He settled in his chair, took a sip of his coffee, and leaned back to enlighten himself on what was going on in the entertainment world.

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The shrill ring of his cell phone made Vaughn jump about a foot in the air. Regaining composure, he looked around to see the dark, empty cafeteria now fully bathed in sunlight, and brimming with workers starting their morning. _Damn it. I must have fallen asleep. What time is it? _Pulling out his cell, he looked at the call display to see that it was Weiss calling. "Hello?"

"Buddy, where are you?"

"Good morning to you too. What time is it?" Vaughn's heart started to beat a little bit faster as Weiss took an extra moment before answering.

"Is that why you haven't been calling everyone you know?"

Vaughn narrowed his eyebrows and leaned in towards the table, focusing every ounce of his strength on listening to Weiss' words. "Why do you say that?"

"Look, wherever you are, you should get here as soon as you can."

Already on the move, Vaughn asked the question he never wanted to hear the answer to. "Did something happen to Sydney?"

Weiss paused before answering. "Just get here, ok?"

Vaughn had never moved faster in his life.

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The operations center of the CIA was brimming with activity. Agents were moving all over the place, phones were ringing, computers were humming, and Agent Vaughn's heart was thumping. He ran around the final corner in the corridor leading to the ops center, completely ignoring the few people who felt the need to say good morning. As he ran into the room, he could see Kendall and Weiss stooped over an agent who was quickly typing something up on a computer. Weiss was talking into a phone while staring at the figures that were flashing across the computer screen. Running a hand through his hair to try to calm his racing nerves, Vaughn yelled across the room. "Weiss!"

Weiss looked up from the computer to see his normally composed friend looking quite haggard and quickly ended his phone call. "Dude, where were you? I've been calling your house all morning. I..."

"What happened to Sydney?" Vaughn approached the two men and watched with dread as Weiss and Kendall glanced at each other.

Kendall looked up at Vaughn. "There's no point in spreading false rumors son. And knowing of your attachment to Agent Bristow, there is no reason to get you riled up over something that may or may not have happened."

Vaughn looked quickly between the two men, becoming frustrated that neither was telling him exactly what was going on. Helplessly, he looked at Weiss. "Weiss. Please tell me what's going on. What happened to Sydney? Did something go wrong with her mission? Is she ok?"

Weiss took another look at Kendall and sighed. "Something went wrong in Taipei. She's been shot Vaughn. We're not sure if she survived."

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Ok, I know that's cruel, but I am working on the third chapter right now, so hopefully I can get it up soon. Let me know how you liked this one. :)


	3. Chapter Three

A/N- FINALLY I got you guys an update. I am so sorry that this took so long, but you would not believe how much homework I had this week, and then I got sick on top of it all. So, I decided to reward you with a longer chapter. :) 

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CHAPTER THREE

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The wind whistled through the empty warehouse, reminding the occupants that there was nothing that could be done to make the situation they were in any better. Even the rats seemed to be able to sense the fear that was almost permeating from the very walls of the building. Small pools of water, formed from the leaky roof, were scattered around the concrete floor, reinforcing the desolate look of the building. An old, musty smell was swirling through the air, but the people in the warehouse wouldn't have been able to discern it from the smell of roses. They were too focused on one thing. Both an end, and a new beginning, and their thoughts on which one was better were drastically different.

A pair of menacing eyes met a pair that were filled with fear. Flashing their rage, the pair of eyes gave way to the voice of an evil man, a man that held the object that would determine the course of the lives of the people present. "I told you that if you got in my way, I would end your life. This is only the beginning." 

Sydney watched helplessly as Sloane raised a gun to Vaughn's chest and fired. It was almost as if time slowed down. She could see the bullet leave the gun and travel towards her lover. As she struggled to break free from the binds holding her to the wall, she could feel her muscles straining against the metal cuffs on her wrists. The coldness of the floor seemed to seep through her body as she saw the bullet tear through Vaughn's shirt, spilling blood into the air as his chair fell over backwards from the force of the bullet. His haunting eyes bore through her soul, and Sydney knew that she would never be able to forget this moment for the rest of her life. She struggled in vain to free herself but to no avail. As the man who had destroyed every good thing in her life walked away, a scream ripped from her throat, destroying the calmness that had once again enveloped the warehouse after it was broken with the sound of the gunshot. "Vaughn!"

Sydney's eyes opened and the world came crashing down on her. Beeps and ticks flooded her ears and harsh fluorescent lights burned her eyes. Before her senses completely kicked in, she swore that she had passed out from the shock of seeing Vaughn killed, but as she became more aware of her surroundings, she realized that she was laying in a bed, and not on the cold warehouse floor where she expected herself to be. She lifted up an arm to see a saline drip attached to it. She quickly lowered it, both exhaustion and frustration winning out over any stamina that she once had. Closing her eyes, Sydney felt a tear escape and roll down her cheek as she silently mourned the loss of the best person that ever happened to her. "Oh Vaughn." The words were almost silent coming from her mouth.

"I'm right here Syd." 

Sydney's eyes flashed open again and she quickly turned her head towards his voice. There he was. "But how..." That's when fire seemed to rip through her body, and she remembered. It wasn't Vaughn that had gotten shot, it was her. And she had survived. "Michael." Sydney reached out for him, needing to feel him in her arms again.

Vaughn couldn't describe the immense feeling of relief that washed over him as Sydney opened her eyes. The doctors had told him that she had lost so much blood that it was highly unlikely that she would ever regain consciousness. That confession in itself had almost killed him, but actually physically seeing the strongest woman he knew so defenseless and weak had really driven it home for him. It had been difficult for him to breathe as he saw her just laying there, and he couldn't even remember the last time he had actually slept, but it was all worth it to be there when she woke up and called for him. 

As she reached up for him, he could feel his heart in this throat and he had to physically fight the tears that were threatening to reveal themselves. Reaching down and carefully taking her in his arms, for the first time in days, he felt complete. After a few minutes, and he felt her loosen her grip on him, still holding her hand, Vaughn sat down in the standard hospital chair that had been his home for the last while. "How are you feeling?"

Feeling a warmth spread through her as she felt Vaughn's thumb tracing lazy circles on her hand, Sydney smiled. "Like I've been shot."

Vaughn glanced at the floor and allowed himself a small laugh. Only Sydney could make a joke right after being shot in the stomach. "Nice reaction."

Sydney laughed a bit, but quickly regretted the move. Fire ripped through her body again, and she sucked in a breath to try to quell it.

At Sydney's reaction, Vaughn stood up, quickly scanning her body up and down, his worried eyes looking more worried than ever. "Sydney. Are you ok? Is there anything I can do?"

Smiling at his concern, Sydney shook her head. "I'm fine. Just realizing that I shouldn't laugh for awhile here without feeling it. And you just being here is good enough for me."

Vaughn looked away from her, and seemed to wait an eternity before he could speak the words that had been weighing so heavily on him every since Weiss had called his cell telling him that something that gone wrong with the mission. He knew that she would get angry for him telling her, but he had to do it. His conscience was screaming at him to say the words, and he knew that if he didn't, he'd be kicking himself later, and would probably wind up saying something at a much more inappropriate time. Shaking his head, he resolved any misgivings, and spoke. "I'm so sorry Syd."

Sydney shot her gaze back to Vaughn. Her head flooded with questions from the four simple words that he had just spoken. _What the heck can he be sorry about? It wasn't like there was anything he could have done. I mean, I didn't even know that that was going to happen. No one could have predicted that. He looks like hell too. I wonder how long I've been unconscious. It can only be a couple of days, can't it?_ She knew that the only way she would find out the answers to her questions was to ask the man sitting before her. "For what?" Her words came out with a slight bite to them that she wished she could have prevented, but her entire body felt like lead, and she really didn't want to be having any sort of argument at the moment.

Vaughn was slightly taken aback by her tone, but he was half-expecting it, so he continued on. "I should have been there for you Syd. I should have stopped this from happening."

Sydney narrowed her eyebrows. She was happy for his concern about her, but he was just being stupid about this. "How could you have stopped this Vaughn? Do you even know what happened?"

Vaughn looked up quickly at Sydney, not expecting the defensiveness that he heard in her voice. "Uh, no, I don't, but still..."

Sydney shook her head. "No Vaughn, there was nothing you could have done. There was nothing that anyone could have done. I was careless, and I paid for that." Sydney looked away at that point, attempting to hide her sudden tears from Vaughn. She didn't want to relive the past right now. She needed to be stronger before that happened, and she definitely needed to be off drugs and have her mind functioning at full capacity before she dove into that memory.

Seeing Sydney turn away, Vaughn knew that the conversation was over for the moment. He needed to know what had happened, but he couldn't bring himself to ask Sydney. It seemed to be extremely difficult for her, so something big had happened. He would find out soon enough what it was, and when that time came, he knew that he would do everything in his power to make everything better for her. Giving her hand a squeeze, he leaned over closer to the bed. "You look like you really need some rest. How about I leave you so you can sleep?"

Sydney looked back at Vaughn with something slightly resembling fear filling her eyes. "Will you stay until I fall asleep?"

Vaughn smiled and stood up so that he could brush away a lock of hair from her face and pressed a small kiss to her forehead. "Of course."

Sydney smiled and closed her eyes, knowing that she was once again safe with the man that she loved.

Vaughn watched as Sydney's breathing became more and more relaxed, and when it evened out, he stood up and took one last look at her sleeping form. Worry creased his brow, and he carefully put her hand under the covers, and tucked her in, making sure that she wouldn't feel a chill in the drafty room. He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned towards the door. He felt he could leave now that he knew she was ok and was sleeping peacefully.

Vaughn walked out into the bright hallway, and slowly closed the door, making sure that it didn't slam and wake Sydney up.

"How's she doing?"

Vaughn looked up from his gaze on the floor and tried to focus his blurry eyes on the man sitting before him. "Where's Jack?"

"Nice to see you too buddy, you look great too." Weiss put down the paper that he had been reading and got up to talk to Vaughn. "Jack's been bogged down at work. Truth is, I don't think he wants to see Sydney like this, and judging by the way you look right now, she's not looking too good."

Vaughn ran his hands through his hair and shook his head. "It's just tough to see her that way, you know?"

Weiss put his arm around his friend and lead him to a chair so that he could sit down, and sat down beside him. "Yeah, she's a tough girl though. She'll pull through."

Vaughn looked at his friend and smiled. "I know."

As Vaughn looked back at the floor, Weiss contemplated not asking him the question that he needed to. He knew that it would put the final nail in the coffin that has been the day for Vaughn, but it had to be asked. Taking a deep breath, he looked at his friend. "So, I hate to ask this, but did she tell you what happened?"

Vaughn looked exasperatedly at his friend. "She just got shot. Do you really think she wants to relive that all over again so soon?"

Weiss shook his head. "Look, you know I hate being the bad guy, especially when it comes to you and Sydney, but this is important."

"I know."

"You know we need this Vaughn."

"I know."

"The fate of the CIA rests on what exactly happened in Taipei."

Vaughn looked at his friend with even more worry flooding his eyes. "I know."

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And there we go! Let me know how you liked that one, and I'll get right on to writing the next chapter.


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